Ideation - Lands' End

Uniqua Brown | Jade Harper | Jonathan Matos Nicole Perez | Megha Sharma

Current Target Market Families Moms and dads between 35 to 55 years Yearly income of 80,0000 to a 100,000 a years Higher Middle class Moderately conservative Well Educated Business attire for both men and women Children who go to private schools A Lands’ End customer is also adventurous and loves to explore they are all about having fun and enjoying life. They have many demographic shoppers. Lands’ End is now targeting a younger customer. This secondary market age ranges from 25 to 35.

They are now starting to offer more youthful and trendy styles. They are also going to target the young professionals who love like stores like Banana Republic and J. Crew.

These individuals love to have fun, enjoy color, and loves spending time outdoors.

Competitor Target Market L.L. Bean

» Active outdoorsmen » Men and women ages media and keeping 35-54 » Adventure-seekers » Increasingly targeting

J.Crew

» College-educated, professional and upscale customers » Median age of 32 » Annual household income above $62,000

Vineyard Vines

» Younger generation that will remain loyal to the brand for decades. » Frats and sororities » Very preppy

Ralph Lauren

» Upper middle class » Sophisticated » Family oriented » Simple » Elegant » Classic » Polo is a life style brand, their target customers don’t just see wearing a Polo shirt as a small fashion statement it is small extension of the lifestyle that Polo embodies » Polo’s target consumers want to share the joys of Polo with every part of their life

Brooks Brother

» Sells a wide range of products from men’s to women’s and children to home accessories. Life style brand. » Primary target market, that well educated professional between 25-45 years of age.

Location Analysis To date, Lands’ End maintains 252 shops with Sears. These statistics are open to change by 2019, dropping down to 103 stores. Furthermore Lands’ End has 9 inlet stores and two standalone retail locations. These inlet stores are located in power centers allowing heavy foot traffic and these are locations where low occupation costs do a great job of attracting new customers.

In 2013, Lands’ End opened its first freestanding mall store in western Chicago suburbs.

Lands’ End is working towards becoming a one stop-shopping destination, housing products for men, women and kids. Their selected stores will offer home goods, luggage, school uniforms, special sizes, seasonal products and footwear. People today are constantly on the go, which is why Lands’ End is placing their stores in convenient locations so customer can make fewer trips and complete majority of their shopping needs at once.

Lands’ End located in Sears stores is nautical themed in blue and white, creating a relaxed shopping experience for their customers and distinguishing them from other Sear’s products. These inlets also contain a lounging area amongst the collection where customers are able to sit and browse through catalogues, connect to the wifi, which direct the customer straight to the Lands’ End website.

Also available are telephones with a direct line to Lands’ End customer service department.

The map below depicts clothing and accessories store sales across the United States for 2013. The South Atlantic and Eastern N. Central regions show the highest levels of sales. Customers within these regions subscribe to magazines that advertise Lands’ End products and spend most amount of money shopping for clothes and accessories.

The majority of Lands’ End revenue comes from their website and catalog orders.

We feel that Lands’ End should have a stronger store presence and hold their brand identity for their customers as their relationship with Sears is causing a conflict with Land’s End’s target consumer.

Competitors and Marketing Key Competitors

J.Crew, L.L. Bean, Brooks Brothers, Ralph Lauren, Vineyard Vines and Southern Marsh.

Vineyard Vines Products

Vineyard Vines' line of clothing and accessories is often compared to those of Polo Ralph Lauren, Brooks Brothers and J. Crew. The company began selling clothing online and in boutiques in 2005. After its initial success with neckties, Vineyard Vines expanded its offerings to other men's clothing, then added women's totes and eventually clothing and accessories for men, women, and children. The company specializes in hats, shirts, shorts, pants, sweaters, dresses, ties, jackets, and bags.

Real people

Vineyard Vines is very clear who their customer is and they play right to their unique customer wants and desires. The catalog is filled with real photos of their upscale customers at great events such as weddings, parties, and college sporting events, of course wearing the VV apparel. These are real pictures that the customers send in.

Usually, in their materials and website, these are their real customers sporting their new clothes NOT models. That’s authenticity.

Student ambassador programs.

These campus representatives are eligible to buy Vineyard Vines clothing at special discounted prices, among other incentives. Free accessories and clothing are distributed with the intention of organically establishing the company’s brand.

Vineyard Vines also works in conjunction with the National Football League, the National Hockey League, with Major League Baseball, and numerous colleges and universities. The company creates ties and shirts that incorporate the individual team logos in a similar fashion to their college logo clothing. This is a marketing strategy Vineyard Vines rival, Southern Marsh also uses.

J.Crew Products

J.Crew is know for classic styling that are not easily dated. They integrate trends through fabrics, colors, prints and finishes. Some of their key elements of design are the boyfriend look, neon, bold prints, chambray, indigo dyed and vintage washes.

Style Guides

The brand’s Style Guide offers features and tips from employees who are experts in their category, whether it’s the company’s CEO, a member of the design team, or an in-store associate. J.Crew also continually “bares all,” revealing images and stories from photo shoots, staff members’ favorite pieces and pairings, and suggestions on creating original looks, with combinations made from items that probably are already in your closet. Similar to Vineyard Vines, the style guides also connect to customers with the models bio about personal hobbies and careers.

Marketing

The brand sells products on net-a-porter.com, which has also increased their international brand awareness. Their Style Guides, ads and websites also promote diversity. Their products also feature designer collaborations, which is a major strategy that J. Crew uses to draw new customers.

Storytelling What does Land’s End stand for? Why does it exist?

Lands’ End began as a sailboat equipment company. The company is named from its sailboat heritage, after Land’s End in Cornwall, England, but the misplaced apostrophe in the company name was a typographical error that Comer could not afford to change, as promotional materials had already been printed.

Lands’ End launched a new line called Lands’ End Canvas, which offers a more fashion oriented selection of casual clothing for men and women.

It built a strong following by offering high-quality merchandise like Squall parkas, cashmere sweaters and down vests. The Canvas collection takes the heritage pieces of Lands’ End, which actually began as a company outfitting sailors in 1963, and makes them relevant for today. Rather than being for a younger guy, it’s for a guy with a different attitude. The Canvas guy wears things slimmer, he’ll turn up a cuff, he’ll dress things up or down.” clothes that pay attention to fit and proportion at a price that everyone can afford.”

A key product offering for Lands’ End has been their school uniforms. They’ve been offering uniforms for over 30 years and uniforms are products none of their competitors have a focus on giving them a competitive advantage on that market.

Current Merchandise Assortment Lands’ End’s has a wide array in their current merchandise assortment for women’s apparel. They carry the following: swimwear, knit top, polos & turtlenecks, shirt/ blouses, sweaters/cardigans, pants/crops, jeans, short, dresses, skirts, blazer/ jackets, activewear, outerwear, Sleepwear. These come in regular, petite, tall & plus sizes ranging from sizes 2- 18 in regular, petite & tall and 16W-26W in Plus. The price can range from $20.00- $180.00.

For men’s apparel there is swimwear, t-shirts/polos/turtlenecks, dress shirts, casual button-down shirts, sweaters/cardigans, pants, jeans, short, blazer/ sport coats, activewear, outerwear, sleepwear. The prices can range from $20.00-$200.00.For kids apparel in boys there is swimwear, top , graphic tees, sweater, sweatshirts/hoodies , pants, jeans, short, blazer/jackets, activewear, outerwear, sleepwear, shirts.

For kids apparel in girls there is swimwear, top, graphic tees, sweaters, cardigans, sweatshirts, hoodies, pants, leggings, jeans, short, dresses, skirts, skorts, blazer, jackets, activewear, outerwear, sleepwear, shirts. Boys apparel come in toddler (2T-4T), little kid(4-7) and big kid (7-20) and can come in regular, slim and husky. Prices range from $10.00 - $80.00. Girls apparel come in toddler (2T-4T), little kid(4-7) and big kid (7-20) and can come in regular, slim, and plus. Prices range from $10.00 - $80.00.

There is also a wide array of accessories for women, men, boys and girls. For women’s accessories there are shoes, socks/tights/underwear, totes, hats/gloves/scarves,hand bags, fashion scarves, jewelry, belts, umbrellas, bath & body care. Prices ranging from $20.00- $250.00.

For Mens’ accessories there are shoes, belts, socks, underwear, ties, hats, gloves, scarves, pocket squares, wallets, and sunglasses. Prices ranging from $20.00- $180.00.

Boy’s accessories include: shoes, belts, socks/underwear, ties, hats, gloves, scarves, goggles, sunglasses, backpacks, lunch boxes. Prices Ranging from $15.00- $50.00.

Girls accessories include: shoes, socks, tights, underwear, totes, hats, gloves, scarves, backpacks, lunch boxes, hair accessories, fashion scarves, sunglasses belts, goggles.

Prices ranging from $15.00- $50.00.

In the home department there is: bedding (sheet/pillowcases, duvet cover/comforters, pillows, mattress pads/toppers bedskirts), bath (bath towels, rugs/tub mats, soaps/ scents), blankets/throws, storage/organization, beach towels, totes, home decor/gift, luggage/bags (luggage, tech cases, kids’ luggage, briefcases and laptop Bags), kids home (kids’ bath, kids’ sleeping bags, bean bag chairs, baby blankets/gift), dog shop (dog clothes, beds/covers). Prices ranging from $30.00- $450.00. The seasonal swim items are women’s, men’s, boys, girls swimwear, family rash guards/cover-ups, beach towels/bags, water shoes/sandals.

The key drivers/ items at Lands’ End are the uniforms, polos, totes, parkas, down vest, etc.

Marketing Conclusion Lands’ End lacks on making an emotional connection.

What Lands’ End needs is an emotional connection with people through interesting narrative, authentic communication, and by bringing the brand’s unique selling points to light in a human way that differs from its competition.

Here are three must-dos that Lands’ End needs to start bonding authentically with their target market: 1. Use real words that resonate with people at a level that goes beyond the functionality, features, and benefits of your products or services. Offer a perspective and share a philosophy through words on websites, social media, packaging, videos, and more.

2. Create something that others want to be a part of. Make their content interesting, without industry jargon or boring lingo, and show that they really “get” who they’re speaking to and what their customers need.

3. Stay true to they’re mission and be fearless about what their brand really represents.

With deep market saturation and growing consumer apathy, it’s more important than ever to connect honestly and intimately.

Trend Funnel Schools & Street Style

Movies & TV Shows

Style Icons

Proposed Improvements For the future we hope to focus on our school uniforms by including more fashion forward items such as shawl collar cardigans, rowing blazers, tennis sweaters, and harrington jackets. We will also provide a series of shoes such as velvet slippers, plimsolls, penny loafers, wing tip and boat shoes. We want to offer more fabrics in different patterns and colors, like tartans and breton stripes. Lastly we would like to bring in more accessories like pearls, berets and driver caps.

Tennis Sweaters

Rowing Blazers

Harrington Jacket, Slimmer Varsity Jacket

Shawl Collar Cardigan

Cape

Accessories: Velvet Slippers, Pearls, Beret, Driving Cap